The Ultimate Lifeform
by windstorm16
Summary: No summary yet.


**Hello all Storm here with a new story! Not much else to say other than hope you like the story. So, without further ado.**

**I own nothing.**

Walking down a dimly lit hallway was a man with long black hair, chalk white skin, and golden snake-like eyes with slit pupils. This was Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin and a Missing-Nin from Konoha.

Currently Orochimaru was in one of his many bases scattered throughout the Elemental Nations, this base being one of the ones located closer to his former village. The reason the Snake Sannin was even risking being this close to Konoha was due to the fact of the invasion he's planning, along with one of his side projects that he's been working on for years now.

'And if the subject manages to survive, I'll be one step closer to my goal of immortality and if he dies… then I'll have one less potential threat to worry about.' Orochimaru thought, knowing however this turned out, he'll have something to gain.

"Kabuto report." Orochimaru ordered as his right-hand man as he entered the lab.

"The subject's body has so far been reacting and adapting to the Chaos Emeralds rather nicely; so far, I haven't noticed any negative side effects taking place, Orochimaru-sama." Reported Kabuto, with Orochimaru smirking before turning to a large glass pod with someone floating inside.

The person in the pod was a boy looking around sixteen-years-old with blonde spiky hair, lightly tanned skin, and three whisker marks on his cheeks, with his only attire consisting of green boxer shorts, and a breathing mask. The boy was Naruto Uzumaki, a Genin of Konohagakure, the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and Orochimaru's latest test subject.

Around Naruto's pod were seven smaller glass containers; all connected to the pod with tubes, each containing a diamond shaped jewel all colored green, red, blue, yellow, purple, turquoise and white.

These were the seven Chaos Emeralds, powerful gems Orochimaru discovered many years ago. While the Sannin might not fully understand what the Emeralds are, or where they came from, what he did know was they contained a nearly unlimited source of energy. Just by Orochimaru's rough estimate, just one Emerald was enough to power the entirety of one of the Great Nations for decades, perhaps even centuries. But the amount produced by all seven Emeralds together, that was enough to worry Orochimaru, should they fall into the hands of someone that was after him.

'Or worse the Akatsuki.' Thought Orochimaru, knowing that if his former allies in the Akatsuki were tracking down the Chaos Emeralds in addition to the Tailed Beasts, then the entire world would be doomed.

Anyway, Orochimaru had come across one of the Emeralds many years ago during the Third Ninja War and had felt the power radiating off it. He took it with him and studied it in secret, eventually managing to track down the other six. With all seven in his possession, Orochimaru had originally planned to infuse all their power into him; but decided against it, knowing what would happen should he try infusing to much energy too his body.

Instead, he decided to infuse the energy into another's body and then simply possess them afterwards. Unfortunately, each time that he tried, the subjects would die before the infusion could be completed. This made Orochimaru hold off on the project until he could find someone who wouldn't die. And it just so happened that the perfect test subject fell right into his hands not even a week ago, in the form of Naruto Uzumaki.

While the boy himself was rather pathetic and didn't really have anything going for him, besides being able to use Shadow Clones, even then he didn't use them to their full potential. But it wasn't that which made Orochimaru consider the boy the perfect subject, it was his Uzumaki Lifeforce that he inherited from his mother and the Kyuubi sealed inside him. Not only that, but the potential he had from his parents, being the son of two of the most powerful Ninja to ever live.

It had been during Orochimaru's confrontation in the Forest of Death, where he planned to mark Satsuki Uchiha, that he first saw the boy's potential. Managing to escape from the snake he sent after him, then stopping another of his snakes with a small amount of the Kyuubi's Chakra. Yes, Orochimaru knew that he had found the perfect test subject.

Not only had he managed to mark Satsuki with a Curse Mark, but also captured Naruto to prep him for being infused with the Power of Chaos.

'Though it is a shame that his potential was wasted. Sarutobi-sensei coddling the boy when he could have been helping him reach his full potential, and then Kakashi didn't even try to train him; not to mention that fool, Jiraiya, had trained the father and yet ignore the son.' Thought Orochimaru, finding it shameful that those three would ignore someone with potential like Naruto.

If things had turned out differently, he'd likely would have wanted Naruto as his host, instead of Satsuki. But instead, all he was is simply an experiment to further Orochimaru's goals.

After capturing Naruto, the Sannin brought him to one of his nearby bases and immediately had Kabuto begin the infusion process, infusing small amounts of Chaos Power into Naruto's body to get it use to the power. While Orochimaru was sure Naruto would survive, he also didn't want to chance it and thus took it slowly.

Now after five days, it was time to begin completion of Project Shadow.

"Let's begin." Orochimaru said as he went over to a station, while Kabuto gave a nod, before going to a station as well.

"Infusion process beginning in three… two… one… begin." Kabuto said.

Immediately the Chaos Emeralds all lit up as their energy flowed into the pod and being infused into Naruto's body. The moment the power entered his body, Naruto began thrashing about and screaming in pain, given he's having all of it being infused at once, rather than a small amount.

"Subjects heartrate is increasing." Kabuto stated.

"Keep going." Said Orochimaru, not caring if the boy was in pain, as long as he stayed alive.

As more Chaos energy was forced into his body, red Chakra began appearing around him.

"The Kyuubi's Chakra is reacting with the Chaos Emeralds, should we stop?!" Kabuto asked, when the energy readings started going off the charts.

"No, keep going, we're almost finished!" Said Orochimaru as they've already gotten farther now than with any of the previous subjects.

Though Orochimaru did notice it, Naruto's appearance began changing, his blonde hair was slowly turning jet-black and gaining red streaks. Just then Naruto's eyes snapped open, only they weren't their normal blue color, instead they were now ruby red. Naruto started punching the glass container, trying to break it.

"He's trying to escape!" Kabuto stated

"I can see that!" Retorted Orochimaru, annoyed that Kabuto felt the need to point out the obvious.

'Come on, just a little longer.' Orochimaru thought, knowing they were close to completing the infusion process.

Though he started getting worried when cracks began appearing on the pod from Naruto's attacks. Thankfully, not a moment later the process was complete, and the Emeralds glow vanished.

"Infusion complete, Orochimaru-sama. Project Shadow is a success. Congratulations, you've most likely created the Ultimate Lifeform." Said Kabuto.

Orochimaru didn't respond as not even a moment later the containers holding the Chaos Emeralds exploded, as the Emeralds started spinning rapidly around Naruto. Then before either could react, the Emeralds and Naruto vanished in a blue flash.

Seeing the Emeralds and Naruto vanish, Orochimaru scowled and clenched his fists, before giving an enraged scream that both the Emeralds and the boy were gone; having been teleported to who knows where.

*Timeskip-Four Days-Unknown Location*

His face scrunched up as he felt something cold and wet pressed against his forehead. His hand immediately shot up and grabbed the persons wrist, getting a startled and feminine "Eep", showing that the person was female. Opening his eyes, he couldn't make out who the person, still feeling dizzy and weak from… whatever the hell happened to him.

Where even was he? Who even was he?

His grip slackened on the girl's wrist as his eyes began closing again; he wasn't sure, but he thought he heard the girl saying something but couldn't hear it.

*Timeskip-Two Days*

Opening his eyes again, he looked around and took in his surroundings, seeing that he was in a decent sized room. Frowning, he sat up and looking down at himself, seeing he was just wearing boxer shorts.

'What is this place? Where am I?' He thought as he got out of bed and spotted a mirror.

Going over to it and looking himself over, he appeared to be sixteen along with possessing a decent amount of muscle; black spiky hair with red streaks, that was swept back in a messy style, while having a bang that covered his right eye; ruby red eyes, lightly tanned skin, and three whisker marks on his cheeks.

Looking at himself made him frown, he knew it was him in the mirror but… who was he exactly?

Just then he heard the door opening, causing him to turn his attention away from his inability to remember who he is. Looking at the doorway, he saw it was a young woman a little older than himself, perhaps seventeen or eighteen. She had long brown hair that fell just below her shoulders, brown eyes, fair skin, and strange purple rectangular marking on her cheeks. Her attire consisted of a tight fitting sleeveless black top, black shorts, a purple apron/skirt, black Ninja sandals, and red stockings.

He didn't recognize her, whether that was due to the fact he's never met her, or he doesn't remember her, he didn't know.

"You're awake, I wasn't sure you'd be up. Hang on, I'll go get you some water." The girl said, before running off to do just that.

Frowning as he watched the girl run off, he looked around the room some more.

Soon the girl returned with a glass of water and handed it to him. Looking at the glass silently, he drank all of it in one gulp.

"Thanks." He said, the girl smiling at him

"No problem, so what were you doing out in the forest in your boxers?" She asked, having wondered what he was doing to be in the condition she and her roommate found him in.

"I don't know." He replied.

"Oh, well where are you from?" Asked the girl.

"I don't know." He repeated.

"What about your name?" Asked the girl, now worried believing he may have amnesia.

"I don't know! I don't know how I got outside, where I'm from, who I am, or anything!" He finally snapped, his frustration at both not remembering anything and her questions reaching a boiling point.

The girl flinched and looked down.

"Sorry." She muttered, with a grunt being her only response.

"I'm Rin by the way, Rin Nohara. My friend and I found you and took you back here to recover." Said Rin, as she explained why he was in her house.

He stayed silent, merely nodding to show he heard.

"Uh, I'll just leave you alone for now. Feel free to come out when you're ready. There are clothes in the dresser for you." Rin said, before exiting the room.

Going into the living room, Rin saw her roommate sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea.

She is an adult woman, with short, straight blue hair with a bun with a light blue paper flower in her bun, amber eyes with lavender eye shadow and distinctive eyelashes. Her clothes were white-heeled blue Ninja sandals, navy blue form fitting pants, and a revealing navy-blue robe, with a large hemline on the front, and exposed her arms, her back, the lateral part of her breast and her belly.

This woman was Konan, a former member of the Akatsuki organization, as well as Rin's roommate and savior.

"How is he?" Konan asked as she sipping her tea, causing Rin to frown and shake her head.

"Not good Konan. He doesn't seem to remember who he is or where he's from. He doesn't remember anything." Rin said sadly

"And you're sure this boy is Naruto Uzumaki?" Konan asked as she set her tea-cup down and looked at the former student of the Yondaime Hokage.

"Yes, Isobu said he can sense the Kyuubi inside him and I know that Minato-sensei and Kushina-onee-san's son was made the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. Do you think we should tell him who he is?" Rin asked, worried for her sensei's son and wondering what happened to change his appearance and, from what she could feel inside him, a new form of power also.

Konan thought about it for a few moments, before finally shaking her head.

"No, we don't know what would happen should he remember his life or what happened to make him lose his memories. He could end up releasing the Kyuubi's Chakra, or whatever that new power inside him is." Said Konan, having also sensed the strange power inside Naruto.

There's no telling what would happen if he regained all his memories at once, especially when he's already in such a delicate state.

Frowning, Rin nodded slowly, while she didn't like it, she'll trust Konan's words.

**"The best thing you can do right now Rin, is to simply be there for the boy."** Said Isobu, the Sanbi sealed within Rin.

'Hai Isobu.' Rin thought.

While she'd like to tell her sensei's son who he was, where he's from, about his parents, and everything else; she also didn't want to cause him more pain than he's likely already experienced.

Just then both Rin and Konan's attention were drawn when they heard their guest enter the room. Looking they saw he was now dressed in a pair white, black, and red shoes, black pants, a black short-sleeved shirt with a white jagged symbol on the front, and a black leather jacket.

Combined with his red eyes and red and black hair made him look rather intimidating.

'Along with rather attractive.' Both women thought, before mentally groaning that they were feeling attracted to someone much younger than them, as while Rin looked young, she's technically in her twenties, but thanks to Isobu, her aging as slowed down rather considerably.

"You're up." Stated Konan, as he gave a nod.

"Yes, I'm guessing you're Rin's roommate." He said.

"Hai. My name is Konan." Konan introduced

"Well thank you both for helping me. Was there anything you found with me, wherever I was?" He asked, wondering if they found anything with him that might help him remember something about his past.

"Well, we did find this." Rin said, before pulling out the green Chaos Emerald.

Seeing the Emerald immediately made him grab his head in pain as he heard someone talking.

_"… Project Shadow… Ultimate Lifeform…"_

"Are you alright?" Rin asked worriedly as she saw him clutch his head.

"I'm fine." He said, grabbing the Emerald from her hands, looking at it intently.

"Shadow." He said after a few moments of silence.

"What?" Asked Rin confused

"You asked me what my name was, it's Shadow." Said Shadow.

"Well it's nice to meet you Shadow." Rin said with a smile.

"If you'd like, you can stay here until you feel that you are back to full strength." Offered Konan, with Shadow nodding in thanks.

With that Shadow walked outside, while Rin and Konan followed behind him, and saw that the girls' home was in a snow-covered forest.

"Where are we exactly?" Shadow questioned, once again unable to recognize the land, either because he can't remember it or didn't know about it to begin with.

"The Land of Iron." Rin answered, getting a blank look in response, making her realize that she needed clarify.

"The Land of Iron is ruled by Samurai rather than Ninja." Rin clarified.

"Given that it's ruled by Samurai, along with its cold and harsh climates, as well as remaining neutral in all matters of the Elemental Nations, it's the perfect place to hide in." Konan added

"And why would you two need to hide?" Asked Shadow, looking at them with a raised brow.

Konan and Rin traded a look, before looking at Shadow.

"Let's just say we both have reason for wanting to remain off the radar of any Ninja, the Iron Country just happens to be the best place for that." Said Rin, knowing neither her nor Konan could be tracked down for several reasons.

Rin being a Jinchuuriki and Konan being a former member of the Akatsuki just being the top reasons.

Shrugging at that, Shadow didn't question them further, knowing that it wasn't any of his business, along with being indebted to them for helping him.

"Thank you again for helping me and if it isn't too much trouble, would I be able to stay here while I recuperate." Shadow said, deciding to take them up on their off.

"Like I said, you are more than welcome." Said Konan smiling.

*Timeskip-Four Months*

Four months have passed since Shadow woke up under the care of Rin and Konan. Since then, he's mostly kept to himself, not out of rudeness to his saviors, but because he's been trying to see if he can remember anything else. Most of the time, he'd just spend hours staring at the Chaos Emerald to see if it'd jog any other memories, unfortunately nothing happened.

Rin and Konan, meanwhile, were patient with Shadow knowing it must be hard for him, not remembering who he was and being in the company of strangers, as well as being in a strange land. Though they did try and get him to open up more by telling him things about themselves, thankfully it worked, and he didn't spend all his time brooding or looking at the Chaos Emerald.

They also helped him with better understand the new powers he has, ones even Shadow didn't know he had given his lack of memories. While none of them fully understood the power Shadow had, what they did know was whatever it was, it's unstable but also very powerful.

They managed to help Shadow tap into this power, what they now called Chaos Energy, and learned he could use it in a variety of ways, in what Shadow called Chaos Powers.

He could create spear-shaped energy projectiles called Chaos Spears, that he can adjust the power of, from being able to stun an opponent to powerful enough to destroy a boulder.

Chaos Arrows, a weaker version of Chaos Spears, that can be fired more rapidly.

Chaos Ball, an attack that can home in on a target making them lose their balance and stunning them.

Chaos Boost, which temporarily floods Shadow with Chaos Energy increasing his durability and strength.

Chaos Snap, which allows Shadow to teleport directly to an enemy to attack them.

Chaos Blast, Shadow's most destructive attack that unleashes a powerful explosion of Chaos Energy, destroying everything and everyone in a given radius. It also seemed that the angrier Shadow was, the stronger the blast was.

But the one Chaos Power, that was by far Shadow's most useful one and quickly became his signature move, was Chaos Control. Chaos Control allowed Shadow to bend space and time to instantly teleport to any given location, slow down time, and even altering the fabric of reality itself.

Another thing they learned was when Shadow used the Chaos Emeralds, his Chaos Powers increased in power, making them believe he somehow gained his powers from the Chaos Emerald. It also made then wonder if there were more gems like the one Shadow has.

Aside from his Chaos Powers, they also learned Shadow was strong enough to tear trees out of the ground, lift boulders, and smash through solid stone. He was also fast, very fast, being able to move fast enough that even Konan could only see a black blur when he ran. Shadow's durability and agility were also impressive, along with his reaction time to any threats around him, being able to react to danger in a split second.

Something else they noticed was the fact that Shadow never got tired, hungry, or anything to show he was feeling the effects from hours' worth of training and sparring.

During his training, Rin had also been able to reteach Shadow the Shadow Clone Jutsu, something that greatly helping his training when she told him about the memory feedback and how many clones that he was able to create.

It amazed Konan and Rin when they saw how many clones Shadow could create, unsure if it was because of the Kyuubi, his heritage, or the Chaos Energy within him. Whatever it was, it allowed Shadow to reach his full potential from just training. His determination also amazed them, that he focused completely on mastering his Chaos Powers, getting faster, stronger, he'd even go days without sleeping or eating to continue training.

Now however, the girls felt the only way for Shadow to grow stronger was to go out and get real fighting experience. They also decided it wouldn't hurt for them to go as well, given neither of them wanted to get rusty from living in solitude.

They just hoped nothing bad happened once they returned to the rest of the world.

*Later-Port Town*

Appearing in the blue flash of Chaos Control; Shadow, Konan, and Rin looked around the port town. Konan was also now wearing a black cloak similar to the one she wore in the Akatsuki, minus the red clouds.

"Is this the place?" Shadow asked, with Konan nodding in confirmation.

"Yes, this place is haven for pirates, mercenaries, and missing-nin. It's also a good place to get jobs." Konan said, before leading them to a tavern.

Once they arrived, they went up to a bulletin board with several Mission Requests and Bounties.

"What about this one?" Rin asked, while grabbing one of the requests.

"Protecting an actress and film crew while shooting a movie in the Land of Snow. What do you think Shadow?" Konan asked, looking at the amnesiac boy with Shadow shrugging, not really caring what the mission was.

"Alright then. We'll take this one, it should be easy enough and a good way to allow you to get some combat experience." Konan said, while taking the request from Rin before they all left the tavern.

**So, what did you think, good. Yep, Naruto has been infused with the Power of Chaos and become the Ultimate Lifeform, but at the cost of his memories. Luckily he was found my Rin and Konan (who's backgrounds will be explained a later time) and has now taken the name Shadow, though I wonder what will happen when he learns of his past, will Naruto Uzumaki return or will Shadow want to stay? You'll just have to keep reading to find out. So, review if you liked go away if you didn't.**

**Storm out**


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